".Ash offers considerable insight into the lives of ordinary people in the South."--Lee Milazzo, The Dallas Morning News ".Ash vividly recounts the hopes, fears, and uncertainties of that year.Highly recommended."--D. Butts, Choice "Ash writes history with the vision of a scholar but with the skills of a novelist."--Fred brown, Knoxville News-Sentinel "The book's a good read-compelling, detailed, yet swift.

"--Ralph Bowden, Nashville Scene "This well-written and researched exploration will . interest new readers of the period. Highly recommended."--Kathleen Conley, Library Journal "A compelling narrative set skillfully within a rich Civil War context. Ash's deft and eloquent portraits are emblematic of war's chaotic thrall."--Catherine Clinton, author of Fanny Kemble's Civil Wars "Stephen Ash has taken us deep into one of the most exciting times in American history. With sensitivity, imagination, and skill, Ash recreates the South of 1865, allowing us to see it from perspectives we have never seen before. This is a remarkable book.

"--Edward L. Ayers, Dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Virginia "This book enables readers to experience, through the eyes of four southerners of disparate backgrounds and geographical locations, the transforming events of 1865. Avoiding the common device of using the death of the Confederacy as a closing point, Ash employs his witnesses to tell a gripping story that includes the fateful last months of the Civil War as well as the tumultuous early transition to a postwar world that would offer hardship and promise in full measure. Few Americans have had to wrestle with more unsettling times, as Ash's excellent narrative makes abundantly clear."--Gary W. Gallagher, John L. Nau III Professor of History at the University of Virginia.